Fiction
Introduction to Issue 34 Fiction by Gary Fields
Choosing stories for this issue of Liquid Imagination was both challenging and rewarding. I was able to read thirty to forty excellent pieces, but only had the resources to choose six (readers and writers alike can help in this regard by clicking here; donate to Silver Pen Writers via PayPal). Having sent back all those great [...]
Fiction
Alpine Silence by Gustavo Bondoni
The carcass looked fresh, and Vulna’s heart sank. Here in the mountains, the cries of an adult lynx fighting for its life should have carried for leagues, yet the messenger had heard nothing. He prodded the meat with a naked finger and confirmed his suspicions. Not warm, but not frozen, despite being half-buried in the [...]
Fiction
Peter vowed to stay with me, in sickness and in health, forty meters from his dead wife’s grave, on the steps of his dying manor. The dying manor lay at the foothills of the dying village, kissed good-night by the dying sun. This Droste effect of deterioration and decay is my wedding portrait.
Fiction
My dear forest friend, How often have I thought of you in my ramblings upon these mountains for the last week! I am sure you have heard the awful stories about you. I must make it clear that I had no joy in it. And if you thought I did, you cannot be a friend [...]
Fiction
Robbie was making Zandra a cup of hot chicory when he heard her scream. In the dining room Glenn stood over her, the pale sun marbling his face. “What’ll it take to get the princess out of bed?” he asked Robbie. “Pico needs help with the water.” “You can ask her,” Robbie said. “She’s right [...]
Fiction
Tuesday, April 9—My name is Solomon. I am twenty-eight years old. I write to you today from my home four miles northeast of Nuuk, Greenland. About every five minutes, the person closest to me dies. I don’t mean the person I love the most or the closest in relation. I mean this quite literally. Proximity [...]
Fiction
The Guest in the Machine by Benson Branch
They came in early spring, when a threadbare blanket of snow still lay on our patch of the southern Himalaya. Their burgundy robes told me they were monks, a fact not in my original neural networks, but learned from experience when local monks conducted a house blessing ceremony for us every year.
Poetry
Introduction to Issue 34 Poetry by John C. Mannone
This issue boasts of the diversity of voice and style. We open with two love poems. Michelle Mogannam’s “The Garden,” speaks to ecstacy and heartbreak, with surreal undertones, and allusions suggested by the title. In “Keeping Room,” by Ann Thornfield-Long, imagery and surrealism punch into the symbolism of a deeply rooted love. The astronomical references [...]
Poetry
The Garden by Michelle Mogannam
Narrated by Michelle Mogannam It was the beginning of the beginning When love tasted its skewed self And the chimes began to clang; You appeared fast like lightning, And I jumped in. We muddled in our joy. Blinding light exploded into pieces Entrenching us between time And the pool of liberation. Feeling every atom make [...]
Poetry
Keeping Room by Ann Thornfield-Long
Narrated by Ann Thornfield-Long Rain drums the windowpane; August sky, a long-term gray. We’ve looked forward to the promise of the Perseids. We settle into our own perigee—content with our trajectory in this cleft of earth— packed with all we bring: wind, wine, magic of our stars. The deluge stops at midnight, we stretch onto [...]
Poetry
Let Me Build My Sandcastles by Von Boy
Narrated by Von Boy Let me build my sandcastles all by myself, Duly withstanding the wrath of all the rest I have overlooking; the guardian angel itself Taking utmost care to oversee this test, Duly withstanding the wrath of all the rest, I watch the unforgiving winds ascend, Taking utmost care to oversee this test [...]
Poetry
The cold wind blows into our house and makes me tremble. No matter how many coats I wear it still makes my hair stand on end. The cold wind can’t be stopped. “Caesar, please just go to school,” my father says. “I can’t. I don’t feel well. I’m worried I’ll make everyone else sick,” I [...]
Poetry
One More Shade in the Shadow City by Bruce Boston
They drowned her in the River Magnus that winds through the city like some great mottled snake
Poetry
Listen in the third watch of night when the moon blares full and ghostly in the little country graveyard